In this episode of In Our Time, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Edgar Allan Poe’s childhood with the Allans in Virginia as well as his later life as a literary critic and poet.

They also discuss Poe as the originator of detective fiction with his character C. Auguste Dupin. Dupin first appeared in Poe’s short story ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ in 1841.

Melvyn Bragg expresses surprise that on reading ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ he is reminded of Arthur Conan Doyle. According to Bragg, it is obvious that Doyle stole from Poe.

Another way of looking at Poe and Dupin that is discussed is that Edgar Allan Poe set up a powerful template for future detective stories.